A USED and pre-loved clothing market established early last year has relocated to a larger space.<\/p>\n
Having previously been run out of St James\u2019 Parish School Hall in Sebastopol, the organisers behind the Reworn Ballarat market have packed down their racks and moved to a larger space at St Patrick\u2019s Hall, Ballarat Central.<\/p>\n
Previously restricted to about 18 stalls, Reworn co-founder Jacqui Jarvis said the new location has given them a greater capacity to achieve their goal of saving clothing from landfill.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve been able to pretty much double our spaces,\u201d she said. \u201cWe\u2019ve gone from about 18 to 35, 40. It\u2019s meant we can get a lot more of the clothes recirculating.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt St James\u2019 we just seemed to be selling out at markets all the time so we\u2019d have huge waitlists and it was either we\u2019d need to do an extra market or get a new larger space.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ll be centralised now with foot traffic coming through. The school was always a bit of a tester to see if this is something Ballarat would be interested in and the response was overwhelming.\u201d<\/p>\n
Having tested their setup at unfamiliar sites with popups at the Ballarat Mining Exchange and the Western Hotel, Reworn co-founder Rochelle Tournier-Jarvis said their new location shows how much their market has been accepted.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think everyone\u2019s just so conscious about shopping for sustainability. It\u2019s become a bit of a fashion, that people shop second-hand,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s definitely a big growing industry. This has become a bit of a social and community thing too. We have our regular stallholders that just love chatting with everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n
After having held their first market at St Patrick\u2019s Hall in March, their next event will mark another first with the launch of a new collaboration with Annecto\u2019s Front Door Recycling initiative.<\/p>\n
FDR collectors, who are generally disabled or seeking employment, will take any unsold clothing from the market which to be donated to non-profit organisations.<\/p>\n
Loran Cressey, FDR\u2019s operations manager for programs of support in the Western Grampians region said partnerships with groups like Reworn are integral to what they do.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt means our participants who collect the bags are able to get the skills to be job-ready. It also means we\u2019re saving clothes from landfill,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ll offer all the stallholders a bag where at the end they can put any clothing in there for us to sort at our warehouse and they\u2019ll be ready for any groups that need them.<\/p>\n
\u201cFrom about December to January we\u2019ve collected over 100 bags\u2019 worth. We have partnerships with St Vincent\u2019s and the Salvation Army and other markets.\u201d<\/p>\n
The next Reworn Ballarat market is set for Saturday, 27 May from 1pm to 4pm.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A USED and pre-loved clothing market established early last year has relocated to a larger space. Having previously been run out of St James\u2019 Parish School Hall in Sebastopol, the organisers behind the Reworn Ballarat market have packed down their racks and moved to a larger space at St Patrick\u2019s Hall, Ballarat Central. Previously restricted […]<\/p>\n